Search for Family
by Jedi Master Misty Sman-Esay
Summary: Mara Jade searches for her family with little success.


**Title:** Search for Family

 **Era:** Post RotJ

 **Genre:** Family

 **World:** Legends, post TTT by about six years

 **Characters:** Mara Jade, mentions of Palpatine and others

 **Synopsis:** Mara tries to find her family with little success.

 **Warnings:** None

 **Series:** Has ties to 'Was NOT Part of the Plan'

 **A/N:** Prize for Annia Piet on the JCF, thank you for the experience. And thank you to my Mom for Betaing this for me even though she questioned my choice to capitalize certain words.

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Mara Jade slammed a fist into the table; another dead end.

She had been searching for her family for the past six years but she had found nothing. Talon and Ghent had thought they had found her parents in Palpatine's files a Rojer and Elara Rawlins. Everything in the available files seemed to point that they were her parents but when she met Rojer Rawlings on Balmorra he told her that he and his wife were hired by Palpatine to raise her until he sent for her.

She had been delivered to them as a newborn about two years into his reign as the Emperor and they had raised her until she was about three and a half years old. They had called her Rei-Lin because the Emperor hadn't given them a name to call her. They had fallen in love with her and had asked Palpatine to allow them to keep her just a little longer but he said 'no'.

Elara would have been overjoyed to see her again Rojer had told her but she had been killed in a bombing that a Terrorist Cell on Balmorra had claimed credit for.

It was disheartening to have thought herself so close but only to be so far away.

She looked at the datapad again and looked at the decrypted file; searching for something that they might have missed.

At least now they knew roughly her exact age and that put the theories that she was a potential Jedi that had been spared during Order 66 or that she was in the Jedi Order's files.

The only other names in the file were 'Dev' and 'Tine' but no information on them. 'Dev' was a common unisex name and nickname so it could take time to figure out who they were and 'Tine' barely qualified as a name in her opinion and the few beings that had it for a name weren't compatible with humans which meant it was either a nickname or an abbreviation.

It hurt to think she might never find them or know who they had been, if they had handed her over or fought to keep her, if they were still alive or had passed into whatever there was after death.

The thought of never finding them was like a gaping hole in her chest.

She had tried to tell herself that she might be better off not knowing; learning the identifies of her parents might destroy her. Luke had almost been destroyed when he learned his father was Lord Darth Vader but then he had been told that Vader had murdered his father so of course the truth had been upsetting to learn.

She already knew that neither Vader nor the Emperor was her father; she had checked and double checked just to make sure.

Ghent was searching all of the Emperor's personal files for any mention of either 'Dev' or 'Tine'.

Mara hoped that he would find something and get back to her soon, but she knew that things like this took time. That was one of her first lessons as the Emperor's Hand.

Her thoughts went back to the Emperor and all of their interactions. He had assigned the best teachers in the galaxy to teach her how to negotiate galactic and planetary politics and the histories of Naboo, Stewjon and Mandalore, but she rarely needed to use most of it besides the negotiations training and parts of the political training.

Palpatine had told her more than once she was special and the Force had told her it was true. He had been fond of her in the same way Talon Karrde was fond of her but somehow different. Talon seemed to see her as something similar to a daughter or a niece she imagined; while the feeling had been different from Palpatine it had been oddly similar.

She left the galley for her room on her ship and knelt in mediation; searching her memories for anything that might help her.

 _She was sitting on the floor playing with some blocks in some room she thought she recognized as the Emperor's personal study. "You have Ane's red hair and the waves you get from Tine, your green eyes are Sytaré's though. But I See Dev in you; in the way you tilt your head, how you speak to those around you, the way you watch those around you. He was perceptive as well but too late." The Emperor had told her with a fond smile. "I believe he would think you beautiful and wish that he had made a different choice many years ago." He laughed with some mirth. "I wish I had made a different choice long ago, but he served a purpose."_

Mara came out of her memory and shivered. She had forgotten how the Emperor had Felt like and in that memory she had been more aware of it and how he had spoken of Dev . . . it made her sick to hear him talk about someone 'serving a purpose' like they weren't a Living thing with feelings and desires but a tool to be used and discarded when it broke or he had no use for it anymore; like a few other Hands she had learned about over the years.

At least she had come away with some names and information. Sytaré was a Nubian name and Dev was a masculine name on Naboo, but she didn't know where Ane fit in with the names.

Was she from Naboo? It would fit with the names Sytaré and Dev and learning Naboo's history. But if she was from Naboo why did he have her learn the histories of Stewjon and Mandalore?

Picking up her datapad she made notes to search the records on Naboo for Sytaré, Dev and Ane in connection with each other or Palpatine. It would be difficult but hopefully she or Ghent could find something.

Mara promised herself that she would be strong no matter what she learned, and she knew that Luke and Leia could help her wade through the pain that might come with the answers.

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 **A/N2:** If you have any questions I will answer them.


End file.
